Hi! My name is Francis Tremblay, and I'm from Montreal, Canada. Today, I'm going to show you one of the most famous recipies that come from our french ancestors; the Crepes A La Vanille. But before we go on with the recipe, I'd like to show you what makes this delicious dessert so special.

The word Crepe (wich means "Pancake" in english) belongs to the french language. Let me explain myself a bit;

Just like the U.S.A, Canada is divided in territories, called provinces, instead of states. The province where Montreal is located is the only french-speaking province of Canada. That province is called Quebec.

In 1608, a french explorator named Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City, capital of the province of Quebec. Slowly, french peasents came to Canada, in hopes of finding a better life. But they were not the only pepole to move to Quebec City; all of their ancestral recipes came with them, and among all those recipies was the original Crepes recipe.

And here we are today, 400 years later, and celebrating Quebec City's 400th aniversary.

What makes the difference between the french Crepes and the american pancakes is that they're larger, thinner, crispier and lighter. Although this may look exactly the opposite of pancakes, the original Crepes recipe was between the contemporary one and the one for pancakes; they were large, but they were even more thick than pancakes, and they weren't as crispy and light than my version of the contemporary pancakes. In fact, they were pretty much like flapjacks.

Today, you can find a lot of different recipes to make Crepes, but mine keeps all the original flavour that made them famous, but still I couldn't resist to innovate a bit, so here they are!

You will need:

1 cup - bleached flour or buckwheat flour
1 cup - partly skimmed milk (2%)
1 - egg
1 or 2 teaspoons - brown sugar
1 teaspoon - vanilla extract
1 teaspoon - cinnamon

First, beat the egg in a large bowl until it becomes liquid. Then, mix all the ingredients with a whisk or wooden spoon. MAKE SURE THERE IS NO FLOUR LEFT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL!

TIP: You can add a bit more milk if you want them to be even more lighter.

Mix until you get a SMOOTH paste.

When you are finished, pour half or one third of the mixture in a frying pan.

Make sure the Crepe is perfectly round. It won't affect anything in the recipe, but it will be way more good-looking. It must be really thin if you want it to be a real french Crepe.

Prepare it as you would for a pancake, but if you want it to be really good, don't serve it until some spots become brown. When you're ready, take your spatula and transfer it to a plate.

To make it more delicious, you can add fresh fruits and a bit of your favourite jam on it, or you can cover it with lemon juice and add brown surgar for a more sweet/sour taste. The possibilities are endless. When I make some for valentine's day, I like to add rose petals and dark chocolate sauce to it, but it's your decision to choose what you will add to it.

TIP: Just like pancakes, Crepes are not only good for dessert, they're awesome for breakfast too!

Hmmmmm... Smells good!

Melanie: Oooooh look at that! Francis made some Crepes!

Melanie: Hope you left some for me, you know how I love 'em!
Francis: Uuuuuhh...

Melanie: WHAT! YOU ATE THEM ALL!?!?!?! HEYYY!!! I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND!!!
Francis: Relax, Mel!! I can make some more!!

That situation DID happen in 2006. Know what I did?

I told my girlfriend to take her shower, and while she was gone, I made some more Crepes and I lit some vanilla candles, closed the TV and put on some jazz. And when she came back, we ate together and then... she just fell in my arms.

I think you can guess that we're still together today, in Montreal, the city where I belong.